Median Prices in North Atlanta
April 20, 2008
Median Prices - Comparison Charts for North Atlanta
Here are some charts for homes in various areas of North Atlanta: Marietta, Roswell, Alpharetta, Suwanee, and Cumming.
Are we there yet? Has the market hit bottom?
What do you think? Add your comments, thoughts, and interpretations.
Staging Homes for Sellers - What NOT to Do
April 17, 2008
Selling your home in a slower real estate market is competitive. Many real estate agents recommend "staging" houses.
Today, I heard this story.
Three years ago a real estate agent attended a seminar on staging homes to sell.
She decided being a "staging expert" would be the value proposition setting her apart from the competition.
The agent worked with investors who bought "fixer uppers" in older parts of the city, so most of her listings were vacant.
To stage the houses for marketing, the real estate agent purchased items for staging vacant properties.
The agent started with small stuff- vases and pictures in the living area, towels in the bathroom, lots of light fixtures in dark rooms. Over time, purchases included a sofa here, a table there. One or two carefully placed pieces to define a space.
The "staging expert" agent and her real estate assistant moved stuff from listing to listing themselves as properties sold.
Investor clients began to demand more and more furniture in all of their listings.
Now the competitive staging agent rents a storage facility for $250/month, and pays movers to transfer the big items - sofas, chairs, beds - to the investment property listed for sale. All at no expense to the sellers.
When the market shifted, low quality rehabs in the city were hit the hardest. No amount of staging is helping them sell in a reasonable time frame.
Want to know her answer to surviving in a slower market? Take more vacant investment listings.
This week, one of the vacant investment properties was broken into; the staging props stolen.
Long story short, this agent is selling furniture in a down market.
If you want more information on staging your home to sell in a down market, just ask us using the contact form on the left.
Living Through Today’s Real Estate Market
April 16, 2008
How are you handling the real estate market slowdown?
Are you hanging on by a thread? Eating rice and beans or finding new opportunities?
I believe the answer lies within each of us - real estate agents, Atlanta sellers, buyers, mortgage lenders - at the core of our being. How we handle adversity is shaped by our culture, our family, our life experiences, and our faith. Our response to changes in the Atlanta real estate market echoes our response to other challenges.
Do you:
- Pretend circumstances aren’t as bad as they are?
- Stay busy so you don’t have to think about the market?
- Get depressed or sick?
- Feel controlled by events and people?
- Blame, threaten, coerce, beg, or bribe?
- Feel terribly anxious about finding buyers and sellers?
- Feel angry, victimized, unappreciated, and used?
Are you confident and assertive? Or compliant and dependent?
I’ve seen many North Atlanta houses for sale listed by agents too frightened to be honest with sellers. Real estate agents working out of fear and desperation can not serve the best interests of their clients.
Putting a for sale sign in the yard of an over-priced listing is wrong on many levels.
- It gives false hope to a seller.
- It wastes the time of buyer agents and their clients.
- It is misleading advertising.
- It enables an inexperienced real estate agent to look busy.
- It fosters the belief that real estate agents can not be trusted.
Saying ‘yes’ to overpriced listings in saying ‘no’ to new opportunities.
How’s That Working for You? Terrific!
April 15, 2008
WARNING; This is a rant. Real estate agents that use tired sales techniques for recruiting tick me off.
Several years ago - while in a RE/MAX franchise office - my next door office mate was a serious follower of the Mike Ferry method of cold calling. He was disciplined, if not productive. Every morning, headset in place he’d make his calls to unrepresented sellers (FSBO) and expired listings (sellers whose homes failed to sell).
Good morning. Are you still selling your home without a Realtor? (pause for one second) Great! How’s that working for you? (pause two seconds) Terrific!
Then on to the next call. It drove me mad, and I wasn’t on the other end of the phone.
Fast forward…
Hi, is this Kathy? (pause) Great! Have you got a minute to talk? I noticed you filled out a personality profile on our website. You’d make a great addition to our team. How did you hear about us?
What?!? Two days ago I attended your seminar and sat across the table from you. I have short red hair. (And, you saw my name tag and the registration sheet for continuing ed. THAT is how I heard of you!) But, I’m not interested in joining your team.
Great! Who are you with now?
Like I told you two days ago… I’m the broker of a small independent real estate firm. We are a small team of 5 including myself, my buyer’s specialist, and part-time office staff.
Great! How’s that working for you? (no pause for answer) So, how many agents do you have?
Who wants to work with someone who obviously is more interested in themselves than you?
More importantly, what seller would hire such a real estate agent to represent them?
If you ever call us for assistance, we promise to actively listen to your needs.
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